My Dream

My Dream

By Yolonda Reed

The most recent, apparently senseless death of another African American male has our community in an uproar. The shooting death of Michael Brown by Ferguson, Mo. Police officer Darren Wilson has ignited racial flames that always lay simmering just below the surface. We are doing a great job of killing ourselves with Black-on-Black violence, HIV/AIDS, drugs, etc. We don’t need any help from our so-called enforcers of the law!

Yes, I said it – we are doing a fabulous job of genocide all on our own without the help of those sworn to protect and to serve us lending a hand. Undoubtedly this statement will upset some folks; well, the truth hurts, doesn’t it?

I’ve heard so many Black men’s grievances about the system and how hard it is for them to find a job, let alone a good job. I’ve witnessed the struggle of Brothers who have been incarcerated try and get reintegrated into society. I’ve seen the “By Any Means Necessary” mentality of putting food on the table that some men have resorted to for their families. In short, I’ve seen the good, the bad and the ugly – from a Black woman’s perspective.

The most feared species walking the face of the earth is the educated Black man. Why else would white men spend hundreds of years attempting to break their spirits? Who else can endure the trials and tribulations, the back-breaking bondage and the inhumane atrocities?

They covet your most precious asset – the Black woman. They denigrate those they cannot tame.

They create laws to keep you bull penned. And they hide behind badges and kill.

According to a Nielsen Company study entitled “African-American Consumers: Still Vital, Still Growing,” which was commissioned by the National Newspaper Publishers Association, the African American population is an economic force to be reckoned with, with a projected buying power of $1.1 trillion by 2015.

What I can’t seem to understand is, with that much monetary power, why Black America continues to support those entities that don’t support us!!! When was the last time Louis Vuitton, Tommy Hilfiger, Maserati, Rolls Royce, and Mercedes Benz (you get the picture) put some of the billions we spend with them back into our communities?

C.R.E.A.M.

Wu Tang Clan says it best, “Cash Rules Everything around Me” Instead of making the rich richer; why not make our communities richer? Why not support those people who support us? If we keep our Black dollars in our Black community, we take nonviolent protest to a much bigger level without even raising our voices, let alone our fists! If we put our Black dollars back into our communities, we can become self-sufficient, not relying on others to take care of us. If we put our Black dollars back into our communities, nothing can hold us back.

That’s my dream. What’s yours?